'New' Farmers Market in West Sacramento

The West Sacramento Farmers Market is starting over tonight with a new look, more incentive for low-income families to attend, and a lot more food education. There's also a new art display that will be at the site on days when the market is not.

Denice Seals with the Chamber of Commerce says the first Thursday of every month will feature a sit-down dinner called “Dig In at the Market.”

“The chef will be wandering through the tables after purchasing some of the produce at the market and telling people exactly how he prepared it and what he did with it and how it will work" she said.

The market is being held this year in front of West Sacramento City Hall and will also include new food trucks, local farmers, and master gardeners who will give demonstrations.

“If we love food we love farmers markets," she said. "We know that it starts with farmers. It starts with the right ingredient. We set out to make this a different kind of farmers market.”

Seals says the market is expanding the amount of fresh produce available to low-income families. For every $10 spent using an E-B-T card, $15 in food tokens will be dispensed.

Seals says the market has previously served between 30 and 40 families with EBT cards each week.

The strength of the local farm-to-fork movement is evident this year, too. About 20 farmers who have been farming for three years or less have stands at this year’s market.

Also new is an art project that will be located on the median of the West Capitol Mall for about a month. The project was arranged by Paula Wenzl Bellacera ,Taylor Gutermute, Allison Flory and Sally Baker. Gutermute says the arts project is called a mandala. The mandala is a square made of straw bales that enclose or display drawings, mosaics, and weavings depicting or using natural materials.

”We have wool, we have different grains and wheat, dried and rye and seeds. Our charge was to use primarily natural materials so they will disintegrate. So, that’s the semi-permanent. “

The display also has a solar-powered depiction of the stages of the moon.

This is the first of four mandala’s to be created with funding from the Yolo County Arts Council.